2nd round of bidding nets three proposals

At 10:15 p.m., Perry County Solicitor William
Bunt slid the knife under the first of three envelope flaps holding bids
from contractors willing to haul recycling to waste centers.
Commissioners breathed a sigh of relief. It was their second try at
finding a hauler, as no one bid the first time.

It may have been an matter of semantics,
Sally Tengeres, Perry County Recycling coordinator said. The bid
specifications were rewritten for a second solicitation.

Sharar’s Towing of Newport offering to
take separated recyclables at $175 per container and $10 for each extra
bag; Cocolamus Creek Disposal bid $250 per container of separated
recyclables, and York Waste of York bid $750 per container from two
sites and up to $900 at other sites, with no mention of separate or
comingled material. It is a one-year contract.

Now, it’s up to commissioners to study the bid proposals and to make a decision they say they’ll announce on Aug. 21.

Many recyclers across the county were
concerned about the future of the recycling program when the monthly
recycling at Perry County Metals in Carroll Twp. stopped, according to
Tengeres. Perry County Metals no longer can accept recycled materials
from walk-in customers, although its scrap business has continued
without interruption.

Tengeres said Greg Deimler, owner of Perry
County Metals, has continued to haul recyclables to an end user. “It
doesn’t go back to his facility anymore,” said Tengeres.

The recycling program is responsible for
diverting tons of material from landfills. Over the past several years,
averages of 35 tons of No. 1 PETE plastic, 35 tons of No. 2 HDPE
plastic, 56 tons of clear glass, 15 tons of brown glass, 14 tons of
green glass, 72 tons of bimetal cans, 4.6 tons of aluminum cans, 140
tons of newspapers and 130 tons of cardboard have been collected.

Recyclables currently can be dropped off
in New Bloomfield, Newport, Liverpool, Millerstown, Rye Twp., Penn Twp.
and Tyrone Twp. Duncannon Borough has curbside recycling pickup.